


At First I was Afraid

by Kittie



Category: Nightwing (Comics)
Genre: Gen, Minor Character Death
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-08-14
Updated: 2013-08-14
Packaged: 2017-12-23 10:19:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 468
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/925204
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kittie/pseuds/Kittie
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>His heart pounds loudly in his chest at a dizzying pace. His body convulsing with every throb of his pulse giving organ. His lungs are next to hurt, humid air leads to a drowning sensation that makes the athlete want to pause and vomit water just to attempt to breathe pure air. Deep inside he knows it would not help but the thought of it is very lovely.</p>
            </blockquote>





	At First I was Afraid

**Author's Note:**

> I have no idea what to title this without giving away the plot.

_beat_

           **beat**

                     ** _beat_**

His heart pounds loudly in his chest at a dizzying pace. His body convulsing with every throb of his pulse giving organ. His lungs are next to hurt, humid air leads to a drowning sensation that makes the athlete want to pause and vomit water just to attempt to breathe pure air. Deep inside he knows it would not help but the thought of it is very lovely.

_Reach her first—_

The sensations leave him numb. The blood seeping from a cut above his eyebrow blurs his vision. Even with all of these ailments the acrobat hasn’t stopped moving. Not once. Feet keep pushing against the roughened roof; friction sends him flying like a bat out of hell.

Speed is both his God and his enemy. It’s times like these he wishes in his heart of hearts he  _was_  Wally. But he’s not. It just makes the reality that the people he is currently chasers are faster, stronger.

_bang_

           **bang**

                     ** _bang_**

Shots fired. The acrobat’s heart stops for a split second.

_no_

**no**

**_no_ **

His eyes well with emotion as he slips on the roof. Pain isn’t on his mind as he falls still in an agonizing silence. The slick seeping in his suit does not bother him. Not when the one person he’d been trying to save was a yard away.

Thirteen year old Julia Martins. Kidnapped and used against an officer in his precinct. He’d swore to the man he’d get his little girl back. What kind of monster was he? He’d  ** _failed._**  This little girl had to die back he just couldn’t be there right then and there—

_Sirens._

Of course they’d make it here by the time he’d failed his mission. What would Amy say? Would she say anything at all? Those disapproving brown eyes filled his vision as he pushed himself up. Fingers slick with blood as they splayed across the rough aging brick.

_What kind of hero let his city down?_

He was no Batman. He was no Superman. He was just a guy in over his head.

“ _Dick._ " A soft whisper coaxes his head to the side. Amy. He hadn’t know she was back on the night watch. She’d become head of the precinct recently. She didn’t have time for this—

“ _Dick.._.” The feminine voice stated again, this time fingers smoothed against his temple. Motherly. Her children. What if this had been her children—?

“ ** _Dick!_** ”

The acrobat awakes with a start, eyes wide and heart pounding as a piece of paper sticks to his face. A few of the vets laugh at him as he tries to gain his barrings back, “Amy?” He slurs sleepily as the heels of his hands rub at his eyes. 

"Yes.  _Amy._  Get up. I’ve got a case that needs your attention, Rookie.”


End file.
